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Catching Up With... Asadinho & his fabric Promo Mix

In just over a week now fresh upstart RvS music will be taking over Room Three inviting international house music don Alex Arnout to join label maestros Asadinho and Paul Soul in representing their new musical upstart. Despite the label’s seemingly fresh face the pair behind it are no newcomers to the label business– they’re the duo responsible for Reverberations and their many associated parties in the capital over the last decade or so. So, in order to present the sound that we have has in store for us next Saturday we asked one of the label founders Asadinho to prepare us a promo mix which he sets out to present the full sonic range of his expertly put together record collection of the deep house kind while we also catch up with him in our interview below. Download: Asadinho fabric Promo Mix It's been a couple of years since we spoke with you on the blog, what's new with you since then? It has been a laborious couple of years, keeping my head down with the new incarnation of the label, and working hard in the studio on tons of new productions and remixes. There has been an evolution in the aesthetic I’ve been going for, and with the updated sound, I decided to switch over to using the moniker Asadinho as my main artist name. There are lots of reasons for it: it’s actually been a nickname that people have called me for years, but I like it, as it’s quite unusual and cross-cultural, reflecting my family background. Having been in the game for 17 years, it felt like a reinvention of sorts, which has been refreshing. I’ve also been gigging abroad in places like Mexico, USA, Bulgaria, Croatia, Malaysia, Turkey, Czech, Spain, amongst others. Can you tell us about RvS Music - your new label collective that you're going to be repping in Room Three at the weekend? RvS is actually a rebrand of our old label Reverberations, which has been running since 1994, but essentially, it’s as good as a new label. 2011-12 was like Year Zero: Paul and I decided to delete our entire back catalogue, we spent a good few months getting the new branding right, and re-launched anew. Some of the old releases will be re-edited and re-released, but we’re primarily focusing on our new stuff. We’re really surprised at the response we’ve had in such a short space of time, and are so grateful for the support that so many great artists have been giving us. RvS is also a party as well as a label and we’ve had some good times doing nights with guests such as Charles Webster, Ian Pooley, Kyodai and Eddie Richards, and incorporating themed artistic installations and visuals. One huge point that was made was at the strength of the house music happenings at that time - do you still feel it's enjoying this good health? In numeric terms, it’s definitely healthy time. We all know that vinyl sales are not what they used to be, but I actually think more people are getting to listen to house music than ever before. Deep House has pretty much taken over, and whilst we can’t like it all, it’s certainly an improvement on a lot of preceding popular styles. The lines between the so-called “underground” and mainstream are ever more blurred. It’s hard to call something underground, when it can be accessed in a few seconds and downloaded almost as easily. Yet mainstream music features more underground elements than ever before. Underground doesn’t necessarily mean quality, and mainstream doesn’t necessarily mean cheese. There’s some amazing music around, but I also feel that a lot of producers rely too much on what others’ are doing, replicating production techniques, mimicking formulas, and using the same samples. I think this is the only creative downside of the current ubiquity. That’s not to say that there isn’t original music being made; there’s still some really special stuff coming out—and a quite a lot of it— but you just have to stay on the ball to keep track of it. Also, internet stats have perhaps killed off any notion of anything being “underground”. The word evokes mystery and cool, and when everything can be quantified, it can take the magic out somewhat. But hey, times change and we just have to live with these niggles. We've got to ask you again because last time we discovered such great gems, what are your top five tracks for the summer? Choosing five is a challenge but here are some that have been tickling my proverbial toes: 1. Tedd Patterson vs Björk: ‘Hyperballad’ (Revisited) (promo) Tedd Patterson very kindly sent me a copy of this after I mailed him asking when it was to be released. This is his re-edit of David Morales’ remix of Hyperballad. Honestly, I think it’s the best Björk remix I’ve heard to date. A classic sound that is so relevant now, with a tasteful use of the vocal. 2. Ten Walls: Gotham (Innervisions) This seems to have become rather a big tune for many, but deservedly so. It’s techno at its most futuristic and monstrous. 3. Alison Moyet: "Changeling" - Severino Does It Work? Remix (Cooking Vinyl) A rather perky rework of Alison Moyet by Severino. 4. Juan Laya: “It’s Got to Be Music” (Imagines) This actually came out last year but I first heard it being played by DJ Ilko at a beach party in Bulgaria recently. It’s a simple but gorgeous piece of slow house music for warming up or winding down to. Lush. 5. Dimitri From Paris and Los Amigos Invisibles: "Glad To Know You" - Ray Mang's Flying Dub (Gomma) Another mid-tempo number. This is modern, dubby disco done right. It sounds devastating on a system. At first, I was a little apprehensive of the piano, but after second listen, I made an exception. Good to see you've got Alex Arnout in tow - what made you ask him to come down to play with you guys? Other than being a thoroughly nice guy, I’ve always loved Alex’s DJing at parties like FUSE. The music he’s been putting has also been really on point. Earlier in the year, I asked him to remix one of my latest tracks on RvS, “Transgression”, and he turned around a beast of a mix that’s had a wonderful response. So it only seemed natural that he joined us as a guest at a party. We choose our artists not only on musical talent and credentials, but also on attitude, and he ticked all our boxes. I didn’t realise that he’s never played at Fabric before, so we are in for double the treat. You've given us another great exclusive mix for the blog - can you tell us a bit more about how you went about your track selection? Generally, I organise my music by mood, as I believe a DJ set should encompass a fuller spectrum of human emotions. We experience them all in life, and by addressing them on the dance-floor, you get a more balanced experience than by sticking to one sound through the night. It needs to be a journey through the entire palette. The set starts off at a slower tempo with some deeper tracks and picks up to a more party vibe half way through, to some techno and back to some deep house classics that I would normally play at the end of a night. Basically, I’ve tried to get across in CD-length podcast what I like to do in longer sets. I hope it’s enjoyed! Photo by Kat Green.
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